Games such as Blackjack tables have a loyal following of players. Casinos typically have numerous Blackjack tables to accommodate these players. Other such table games include Pai Gow, Three-card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'em and other live, table based, card games. Other live table games which do not use playing cards include Craps, Roulette and Sic Bo. By being “live” the game uses physical game pieces such as playing cards, dice, domino tiles (such as Chinese Pai Gow), a Roulette wheel, gaming chips, presents a physical play surface and typically has a physical dealer to control the play of the game and resolve the players' wagers. For table games using playing cards the cards are dealt from an inventory representing one or more shuffled decks of cards; whether dealt by hand or with the use of a shoe or shuffling device.
It is believed that the loyalty of players particularly for table card games is based, at least in part, upon the tradition associated with the these live games, the use of physical cards dealt from an inventory which is depleted with every round to assure player the game is fair and the ability of the players to hold and handle the physical cards. Tradition surrounds such games since they have been around, in one form or another, for many years. Players have seen the games on television and movies and have played these games in this format for many years. Fairness of the game operation is supported by dealing physical cards from one or more decks, shoes of shuffling devices. Electronic games with virtual cards are known and have been in use in casinos and in internet gaming where the values and suits of the cards are based upon a random number generator and each hand or round of play is dealt from a newly randomly sorted, reconstituted inventory, i.e. the players cannot see a physical card inventory depleted with each round of play as with dealing physical cards from a deck or shoe. In a virtual game such as Blackjack where the position of the dealer appears to routinely get good hands, this run of dealer “good luck” may give players the impression that the game software gives the dealer an unfair advantage. For at least some of these reasons players of traditional table games may prefer live games to their virtual counterpart.
The construction of a traditional gaming table top includes an opaque, colored, cloth felt surface. Felt fabric has been the longstanding surface covering for such tables based perhaps upon tradition, durability, feel and to facilitate the dealing and picking up of cards. Interposed between the felt and rigid table top substrate of plywood, is cushioning, compressible, fabric padding. The fabric padding enables a degree of compressibility of the felt and provides a bias to maintain the felt stretched over the substrate. A benefit of this arrangement is that to pick up a card a player's fingers can locally depress the felt at a margin of the card for gripping the card. Because cards are planar and somewhat rigid, picking them up from a rigid, smooth, flat table surface is difficult. The planar surfaces of the cards may tend to adhere to the smooth planar table surface through a mechanism referred to as “wringing”. To overcome this wringing a player must pry or bend a margin of the card from the surface, which can mar the card, or must slide the card to the edge of the table. Where the table has a raised bumper at the edge like a typical Blackjack table, prying or bending of the card would be the typical approach. Players may use prying or bending to mark the cards or may bend the cards to an extent that they are no longer suitable for play or may foul an automatic shuffler. If there is moisture on the table surface or the card “wringing” adherence can be enhanced. Even without the wringing phenomenon, picking up cards from a rigid surface may require bending the cards.
There is a failing regarding traditional gaming tables. To change the game at a table from for example Blackjack to Pai Gow the printed felt fabric must be removed and replaced to reflect the new felt printed with the appropriate game play layout and information related to the new game. These felts are typically screen or transfer printed. The table is removed from service and technicians remove a cushioned bumper along an edge of the table, disconnect and remove the old felt. The new felt is positioned, trimmed if necessary, secured to the table and the padded bumper is replaced. This process has a cost to the casino in printing a new felt, taking the table out of service and the labor costs for the replacement. Further the change may require a lag time awaiting the printing of the new fabric. Thus changes cannot quickly be made to accommodate changes in demand. Layouts are changed not only to reflect a change in the game but to provide, for example, a layout to support a Blackjack game having different side bet options and to delineate where wagers are to be placed, minimum wagers, a pay table and the like.
A further drawback is that the information on the traditional gaming table is static. Video text and graphics cannot be presented. It has been suggested to project video content from above onto the gaming tables by Glenn, II: et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,372 filed Nov. 10, 2008 and titled “Wagering Game With a Table-Game Configuration” and Arezina et al U.S. Pat. No. 8,147,316 filed Oct. 10, 2007 and titled “Multi-player, Multi-Touch Table for Use in Wagering Game Systems”. However projecting content onto a table from above creates distracting shadows cast by cards, the dealer's hands, player's hands and the like. Players of traditional felt games may find these projected versions unattractive. Further making the content interactive responsive to player input is a challenge.
In Gagner et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,430,405 filed Nov. 14, 20101 and titled “Multi-Projection Gaming Table” content is projected from underneath the table surface. However this arrangement does not address the problem of giving players of the traditional felt table games the look and feel of the traditional game and does not address the issue of picking up the cards from a smooth, flat surface. This departure from the felt game creates a negative impression for players preferring a traditional live table.
In Gadda et al, US Pub App 2009/0124383 filed Nov. 9, 2007 and titled “Apparatus for Use with Interactive table Games and Methods of Use” there is a disclosed a game table which projects content from a projector to the underside of a table top having a translucent surface. Again the departure from the traditional look and feel of the traditional felt table and the failure to address the difficulty in picking up cards creates a negative impression for traditional live table players. Further the problem of wringing is not addressed.
In a somewhat related field, it has been known to provide player loyalty systems for casino venues. Such systems provide for enrollment of players into the system so they can have their commercial activity, such as gaming, tracked for the purpose of obtaining access to awards such as points which can be redeemed for cash back, goods or services. Once enrolled the player is typically issued a player card with the machine-readable magnetic stripe. Card readers at gaming devices read a player's card, provide access to a player's loyalty system account and track the player's wagering activities to award redeemable points. One such system is described in Boushy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647 filed May 24, 1996 and issued Jun. 2, 1998. These player tracking systems include, usually associated with the card reader, a system interface with a display and player input apparatus. Historically the displays were multi-line VFD's but modernly are LED video displays with touch screen functionality. Bally Gaming, Inc. provides such system interfaces, i.e. player tracking modules, under the name of “iView”. In Kelly et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,241,123 filed Jan. 8, 2009 and issued Aug. 14, 2012 and titled “Video Switcher and Touch Router Method for a Gaming Machine” there is a disclosed an arrangement where the player-system interface and display is migrated to the gaming terminal video display.
Since traditional table games do not include a player-system interface, to track a player's table play the usual technique is for casino personnel to log-in a player in using a card reader and then visually monitor the player's average bet and record the same into the system. In this fashion the player's gaining activities can be approximated and tracked for purposes of determining points or other awards for the player and the commercial value of the customer to the casino.
In Weiss, U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,258 filed Jul. 26, 2002 and issued May 10, 2005 it has also been suggested to use a player card to access and download or upload electronic funds for gaming.
In the prior art it has also been known to provide ticket-in, ticket-out (“TITO”) functionality for gaming devices. In this arrangement gaming devices are provided with a ticket printer and a ticket reader. When a player cashes out credits from the gaming machines, e.g. $35, the gaming device, in cooperation with a supporting system, configures prints and dispenses a printed ticket showing the amount and bearing a machine readable code. The player can either cash the ticket out for currency at a kiosk or with a cashier or can insert it in a ticket reader at a gaming device. The reader reads the code, calls the system to confirm authenticity and instructs the gaming device controller to load the ticket value of $35 onto the credit meter for the gaming device. With TITO coin hoppers are no longer required and the convenience and mobility of players is enhanced. Such systems are disclosed in Gagner et al, U.S. Pat. No. 9,142,098 issued Sep. 22, 2015 and titled “Managing Cashless Wagering Game Systems” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Traditional gaming tables as described above do not support TITO where players wager with currency or gaming chips.
There is a need for a table which is adapted for the play of a game using physical cards, which can be used with a live or virtual dealer, which provides the look and feel of a traditional felt table, and which provides for the video rendition of content at the table in various forms such as different game layouts and content delivered from different sources. There is a need for a table which provides these features and advantages and includes touch-input functionality such as is available to video gaming machines. There is a need to provide system-interface functionality at a gaming table whereby players may access and manage their player accounts and enable electronic fund transfers and which can utilize TITO functionality.
It has also been known for players to wirelessly bind or “pair” a mobile device with a gaming terminal and to access a user's account as disclosed in Shenoy et al, US2016/0093166, filed Sep. 29, 2014 and titled “System and Method for Wireless Card-In/Card-Out” and to fund play from an electronic wallet (“eWallet”) otherwise known as an electronic account as described in Lyons et al, US2015/0228153, filed Sep. 26, 2014 and titled “System and Method for Remote Control Gaming Sessions Using a Mobile Device. However due to the nature of existing live tables games with numerous players in close proximity with no means to bind a particular player mobile device to a particular table position, such techniques have not been available.
Outside of gaming in situations where a mobile device users in close proximity such that passive location techniques such as GPS, wireless proximity detection techniques such as Bluetooth low energy (BLE) or triangulation cannot distinguish a position of one mobile device from another closely nearby device, mobile binding and utilization of that binding has not been exploited. For example, at a mobile cashier counter or table it is not possible for multiple users to engage in simultaneous mobile purchase transactions since there is no binding of the user's device with a specific position at the counter. In a gaming table such as a Blackjack table such proximity detectors cannot distinguish the position of one mobile device from another at the table. It would be advantageous in various commercial settings such transactions with brick and mortar enterprises to be able to wireless detect a user's mobile device, determine the position of that device as distinguished from devices of other users in close proximity and to provide specific user content to the determined position for the user or engage in a transaction.
Associated with gaming tables it has been known to provide spots or locations for automatic detection of the placement of a chip or token to register a bet or entry into a progressive. For example, Wisler, et al U.S. Pat. No. 9,747,749 titled “Multi-Wager Casino Games with Token Detection” discloses a token detector (for detecting the placement of a progressive wager at a gaming table) embodied as a container installed into a gaming table which includes a transparent cover and a light emitter for detection of a token placed on the cover.
Turning to mobile devices such as mobile telephones, these devices modernly include utilities such as wireless communication capability, accelerometers to detect movement, a gyroscope to detect orientation of the device in space, a camera with a flash and a touch screen digital display to display content and receive inputs. The display denotes the front of the device. A camera a flash unit are disposed at the back. It would be advantageous to utilize one or more of these mobile device utilities to bind the mobile device to a location at the table or surface.